cleaning my tank

Question
i have a 55 gal tank fresh water.  i just need to know about maintaince. How often and what do i do to clean the tank. it looks clean and the fish are doing fine. i have some ground feaders to eat the food the other fish dont eat but still need to know if i should be doing anything else on a regular basis. i have only had the tank 6 months. thanks for you help. if i do need to buy something i need specifics i an new at this.

Answer
Hi Jane
Assuming the tank isn't overstocked, weekly water changes of 25% should be done.  To do this, you should use a gravel vacuum/siphon and clean the gravel with it-which will also suck up water at the same time.  For your size tank, I would recommend going with a Python cleaner, only because it makes it so much more easier to clean-see link:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3728+3910&pcatid=3...

Otherwise, you'll need a regular siphon like this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3728+3889&pcatid=3...

Which you can get at any pet store or Walmart for a few dollars.  And, you'll need a few buckets-I'd recommend at least four 3-5 gallon sized buckets.  You'll also need water dechlorinator to remove chlorine and chloramines from the tap water, if you're on a public water supply.  

I would also suggest picking up a good test kit. I prefer this one:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4345+4454&pcatid=4...

That's a cheap price, it's about 30. at the pet store.  Here's another link to look over that talks about the nitrogen cycle and you should be familiar with it:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

That's the reason for the test kits-and the frequent water changes.  You want your ammonia and nitrite levels to be at 0 ppm, and nitrates kept under 20 ppm.  The only way to do that in a cycled tank, is through those weekly water changes.

For maintenance on your filter, depending on your fish load & the type of filter you have, at least once a month you'll want to take out the filter pad(usuallly blue or white colored in most hang on the back types of filters) and rinse it in a bucket of used tank water-or dechlorinated water.  Just scrub it with your hand, and reuse it.  They're usually good for 3 months or so, even though the instructions on most of the packages will say to replace it every few weeks.  The reason is, most of that beneficial bacteria(mentioned in previous link) grows on your filter media.  Rinsing it off in regular tap water that isn't dechlorinated will kill off that bacteria, and can cause your tank to go through a mini-cycle process.  


Just because a tank looks clear/clean, and the fish aren't acting bad-doesn't necessarily mean all is well in the tank.  Some tanks that have been set up for awhile, and haven't had regular water changes done on them-people may just "top off" the water as it evaporates, can suffer from what's called "old tank syndrome".  The nitrates go sky high, minerals get depleted, ph drops, ammonia rises, and usually the fish keeper doesn't realize there's a problem till they add a new fish and it instantly dies, or they end up with all their fish dying off quickly.  Also, don't rely on bottom feeders to clean up uneaten food on the bottom.  Yes, they're usually good at cleaning, but you shouldn't overfeed the fish.  Not to mention a lot of the uneaten food gets down in the gravel/substrate where you can't see it.

Think that covers everything, let me know if you have more questions!

Christy